You've Changed
by Fluffy Tranquil
Summary: Eli and Clare got divorced and had to split up the responsibility of their son, Avery. When the family gets together for Christmas, will the lust come back between the couple? RxR!
1. Chapter 1

**I literally got this idea so randomly it's not even funny… Review! =] I'll give everyone homemade cookies if they do :]**

**Oh, and the song is called "You've Changed" and it's by Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers. Go to their myspace to listen to it! And I saw them in concert on Wednesday (13****th****) & they were amazing :DD!**

**So go listen to the song, and to David: stop being annoying! =p. No did I do that properly? =P yeah that's much better, lol:).**

_I walked into the house and I could see it written down_

_I didn't have to read a word, I could feel it all around_

_Somehow you escaped my love while I was still asleep_

_You started like a saint and now you've finished like a thief_

_And then you've changed. Yeah, yeah. And then you've changed_

_But I still wear my ring_

_I walked into my honesty and I saw it to be false_

_Like an early indication of a failing protocol_

_I wrote it down on paper and I left it by the phone_

_Because I wanted you to find it while I was not at home_

_And I said you've changed. Yeah, yeah. And then you've changed_

_But you used to be so sweet_

_And the you've changed. Yeah, yeah. And then you've changed_

_And now my exit is complete_

_Cuz' I'm only half of what I wish that I was, I wish that I was_

_You said it before, yeah, that I talk to much, that I say too much_

_But you'll never, never tell me what to do again, again_

_Because you've changed_

_And I still wear my ring_

_And then you've changed, and I am still so much the same_

_I walked into six months and I started at a wrong_

_Cuz' I am not the guy and you are not the one_

_I walked into a lover and look what she became_

_But a rose is still a rose by any other name_

_But then you've changed, and I still wear my ring_

_And you've changed, and I am still so much the same_

_But then you've changed, you used to be so sweet_

_And then you've changed, and now my exit is complete_

_And you changed, and you changed, and you changed, and you changed_

_And you changed, and you changed, and you changed, and you changed_

_And you changed, and you changed, and you changed, and you changed_

_And you changed, and you changed, and you changed, and you changed, and you changed…

* * *

_

The constant squeak of the fake horn behind him was giving him a headache. It was barely twenty minutes into the ride, and they still had a long way to go.

Eli was taking Avery to Clare's, which was an hour across town. It had been a few months since they had split. Clare had suspected that Eli was cheating on her, which he wasn't. That was only one of the factors that caused their relationship to go downhill. They also fought a lot, and it was over stupid things. Deep down, they both knew that they should have waited to get married, instead of marrying right out of college. Of course their relationship was fine in high school, and through the majority of their college years, but they just changed.

* * *

The wind was picking up and the snow was falling down heavily. Eli really didn't want his son catching a cold, so he tried to wait out the storm. After 15 minutes of no luck, he decided to just go inside. It was a good thing he was staying. He didn't want to seem like a stalker just parked by her house until it stopped snowing.

Clare must have seen his car from the window, because she came outside. She stepped off of the porch and met Eli halfway to the car. She grabbed Avery from Eli while Eli got their things from the trunk. The three of them walked into the house. The living room was occupied by Clare's family-her parents, her brother and sister and their kids. Yet, no familiar Goldsworthy face was seen amongst them. When they arranged this little get-together, Clare told him that he could invite his family members, but it didn't feel right to him, since they weren't still together. She was surprised that he was even staying. He still felt bad to interrupt on this moment, since it was technically Clare's week to have Avery, but she insisted that he spend Christmas with his son.

They all shared their greetings, and then Eli headed up to one of the guest rooms and set his stuff down at the foot of the bed. He took off his larger jacket, and hung it up on the coat rack in the living room, which he hadn't gotten a chance to do when he first arrived. It was really starting to snow heavily, and Eli knew that all of Clare's family would not be staying the night, only her parents and maybe one of her sibling's families. But, if none of them would be able to reach their cars and hit the road, it's going to be one big old family reunion.

They held it off until 11 to see if Clare's family could go home, but no such luck. The sleeping situations didn't take long to sort out.

* * *

At around 1:30, after the snow had stopped falling and had started mildly cascading to the ground, Eli went for a "think-break." He liked to come out every often sometime in the middle of the night to think, hence the name "think-break".

But Clare had gotten up to go to the bathroom shortly after, noticing that Eli wasn't in his room. Of course he would question the fact later of exactly why she had checked up on him.

"What are you doing out here, trying to get yourself killed?" She brought a blanket with her.

"N-no. I always come out like this." He said truthfully.

"Well, try not to next time. I don't want you getting sick… So, I guess you're not going in anytime soon." She wrapped the blanket around the both of them, and they began talking.

She wasn't sure if it was the current state that they were in or the fact that it was Christmastime that made the situation seem romantic to her. But, she kissed him. Amidst their fighting, the divorce, and all of that nonsense, she placed her lips on his, definitely feeling a passion that she had never felt before. But it ended just as quickly as it began.

"Oh my God. Oh my God, we're divorced. What am I doing?" She put her hand to her mouth. She got up and literally ran inside.

Eli placed his hand on his lips as well, but cautiously, as if the touch would shock his fingers. He hadn't felt that passionately towards anyone in a long time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, I'll give you the character break-down:**

**Emma is 10, Jessica is 7, and Marcus is 9. They are Nora's kids. Kyle and Kylie are twins and they are 8. They're Robert's kids.

* * *

**

The next day was Christmas Eve, and it stopped snowing by morning. Clare's family was going to stay tonight anyway, so spending the night here last night saved them the trip today.

Eli got more comfortable with being with her family again. Especially with her five nieces and nephews. Eli was always a kid at heart, so he could relate to them. He went out to play in the snow with them. They made snowmen (and snowwomen, as Clare's three nieces Jessica, Emma, and Kylie complained), snow angels, and had snowball fights. Kyle and Marcus, her nephews, dubbed themselves the "Kings of Snowballs."

Clare appeared at the door. She pushed on it's frame slightly, sticking her head out. "Come on, guys. Time to make cookies."

Mark dropped the ball of snow to the ground. All of the kids, followed by Eli, came running behind him. But Eli didn't run. He felt that he was too old for all of that "nonsense."

Eli walked into the kitchen. The first thing his eyes noticed was the icing that sat on the counter. He was a big sucker for icing, which was probably why Clare decided to get some for tonight. **(Wow, I just realized how perverted that sounds, Ha:P)**

He was happy to see no boxes of cookie mix in site, because he loved Clare's cookies. **(Wow, this story is taking it's own turn. I didn't mean to be perverted again, lol.)** They weren't like that artificial shit that you get from stores.

"Who wants to get the eggs?" Clare asked. She was always a perfectionist, so now she was giving them all jobs to do.

"Me! Me! Me!" They all shouted, waving their hands at her.

She assigned all of the "roles." Of course, the younger kids who got simple jobs of fetching ingredients were mad at the older kids for being able to mix the batter. After the flour had broken down and everything was all mixed together, Clare got a tray to put the cookies on. She wanted to get them finished quickly, so she put the dough onto the tray herself. It saved a lot of time and fighting amongst the children.

Clare and Eli worked to their best ability to clean the flour off of the kids' clothing. She was just thankful that they were not covered head-to-toe in the white substance. They all headed into the living room to join the rest of the family.

Eli was halfway across the room when Clare's brother, Robert, wolf-whistled. Clare, who was by his side, suspiciously glanced around her. Neither of them really knew what was going on.

Was it because they were pretty close to each other?

Robert pointed to the ceiling. Both Eli and Clare's eyes followed Robert's gaze. They were both standing underneath the mistletoe. How could Clare forget? It was her idea to put it up there, because she wanted to hit all the stops and make this Christmas as festive and traditional as possible.

Eli kissed her quickly, so she wouldn't feel too awkward of kissing him first. But just because he kissed her quickly, it didn't mean that the kiss's entirety was short.

"Gross, break that up. We've got kids in here!" Robert yelled, teasing Clare.

She blushed. She knew that her brother was kidding, but it was still embarrassing. Clare bit her lip, not knowing whether to brush it off and start a conversation, or to just ignore him and hide out talking to her sister all night. She chose option one, but the conversation wasn't with Eli. It was with her sister, Nora, so she basically, but unwillingly, chose option two…

By the time the cookies were done, the kids were in the kitchen with Clare. Eli decided to sit this one out and stay in the living room talking to Robert instead.

Clare tried her best to pay attention to the 5 kids in front of her. She was barely brought out of her thoughts when Kyle had icing all over his face. She told him to wipe the icing off of his mouth, as they all finished icing the cookies. When they were done, they all wanted one, so Clare gave them each a cookie because she didn't want any fighting. They all went into the living room, leaving Clare alone in the kitchen.

She was almost finished putting the cookies away, when Eli walked in to get some Egg Nog for Nora. Seeing him in here again and the icing on the cookies reminded her that he loved icing. And those thoughts that were in the back of her head conjured up some very naughty images of their own…

She shook her head to make them disappear from her memory.

Eli didn't say anything as he walked over to the fridge to get Nora's drink. Clare stepped in front of him, jokingly blocking the fridge. He tried to move her out of the way, but being very close intensified the moment. Another kiss was the result. But this time, it was more steamier. They hoped no one walked in, especially any of the kids or her parents…

* * *

**Yeah, it's short. But, I feel that if I take time to make it any longer, then I will get interrupted again. Someone will probably take the computer from me, since it happened multiple times yesterday and my dad disconnected the internet. :/**

**But it works now, so I bring you… THIS CHAPTER! Lol. Review :D**

**Oh, shout out to DegrassiMC for motivating me to actually finish this chapter!**


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